Because of the popularity of basketball, particularly in the United States, many people play the sport and devote considerable time to the development of their basketball skills. Millions of basketball goals have been mounted on barns, telephone poles, garages, and the like so basketball enthusiasts can conveniently enjoy a game of basketball or the solitude of shooting a few baskets.
In developing their shooting skills, however, players are faced with the continual inconvenience of retrieving the basketball after each shot before another shot can be attempted. Occasionally a basketball will bounce off the basketball hoop or backboard in the general direction of the player, thereby reducing the inconvenience. Successful shots, however, almost never return to the shooter after passing through the basketball hoop.
Several approaches have been devised for dealing with the inconvenience of retrieving the basketball. Some conventional systems place a fence, web, or similar barrier around and under the basketball backboard. Such systems commonly include a channel extending from the basketball goal at a given angular orientation relative to the backboard and for a given radial distance from the backboard. The channel includes two vertical sides and an inclined floor attached to the bottom of each side. The sides and floor are formed with webs or rigid sheets. Missed shots rebound off the web sides onto the floor, while successful shots drop through the hoop onto the floor. The basketball then rolls down the inclined floor to the waiting player. These systems thus return not only successful shots but also many unsuccessful shots as well.
Retrieval systems thus utilizing webs have several disadvantages. Such systems are generally permanent in nature, or at the least require substantial amounts of time to assemble and disassemble. To maximize the shots retrieved, the amount of webbing is generally substantial. The web is supported by a framework of poles and braces, which must be erected on the basketball court. Because of the system's bulk and the substantial disassembly time required, such systems are not convenient to store. Some systems using webs collapse somewhat for storage, but nonetheless occupy a substantial volume. Additionally, such systems are relatively expensive, because of their complexity and the amount of materials involved.
Some systems using webs to retrieve basketballs also limit the positions from which shots may be attempted. The sides of the channel may substantially interfere with shots from the side of the basketball court. In such cases, the player is effectively restricted to shooting along the channel, that is, at the same angle to the backboard as the channel. Moreover, the radial length of the channel may be fixed, so that shots cannot be attempted closer to the basketball goal without climbing into the channel and thereby damaging the retrieval system. Shots may be attempted at a greater radial distance from the goal, but the player must generally return to the end of the channel to retrieve the ball.
A further disadvantage of systems using extensive webs is that they obstruct running play by appropriating large sections of the basketball court for their own use. Indeed, many of the systems require the erection of posts, poles, braces, or similar supportive structures in the middle of the basketball court, and involve hanging webs between such posts and the backboard or other posts. Installing such a retrieval system may effectively prevent a basketball court from being used for typical basketball games, which involve substantial movement around the court in addition to shooting.
Other approaches to ball retrieval also have known disadvantages. If two players are available, one player may be assigned the duty of standing near the basketball hoop, capturing the ball after each shot, and returning it to the other player. This role of retriever is generally much less sought after than is the role of shooter, at least among more avid players, because it is much less relevant to competitive basketball play.
If a player is shooting baskets alone, the shooter must also act as the retriever. In this case the inconvenience of retrieving balls may interfere significantly with skill development by preventing the player from taking shots in reasonably rapid succession. Before each shot, the developing player ideally makes small adjustments in shot parameters such as aim and force as compared to the parameters used during the previous shot. Shooting skills improve as the player gauges and reacts to the effect of these adjustments, the effects being indicated by the shot. Retrieving the ball breaks the continuity of this learning process, making it difficult for the player to concentrate, and to adjust shot parameters appropriately.
Moreover, many avid basketball players have only limited time to spend developing their shooting skills. For instance, a player may have one-half hour to spend on the court on a given day. Ball retrieval consumes precious minutes of the limited available time, thereby reducing the number of shots that can be taken in the given half-hour.
Some players therefore utilize multiple basketballs, especially when there is no other player present and willing to act as a ball retriever. Thus, a player might shoot several basketballs, then retrieve them all, and then shoot them all again. One disadvantage of this approach is the cost of the additional basketballs. Another disadvantage is the size of the balls. Unlike golf balls, for instance, a container of ten or twenty basketballs is not conveniently carried by a player. Moreover, the balls must still be retrieved. Even if the player suffers only a minimal delay between most of the shots, substantial time is eventually still spent pursuing balls rather than practicing shots.
Thus, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a ball return apparatus and method that does not require one player to forego shooting by playing the role of ball retriever.
It would be a related advancement to provide such a ball return apparatus and method that does not substantially interfere with normal running play by blocking large sections of the basketball court with a web or similar device.
It would also be an advancement in the art to provide a ball return apparatus and method that one player may easily and quickly assemble and disassemble.
It would be a related advancement to provide such an apparatus and method that is relatively small when disassembled and therefore easy to store or ship.
It would be a further advancement to provide such an apparatus that encourages successful shots by returning the ball to the player after those shots.
Such an apparatus and method for returning balls is disclosed and claimed herein.